This invention relates to an electronic timepiece provided with improved means for selecting not only time display but also many other functions for which said electronic timepiece is designed.
An electronic timepiece counts time by clock pulses issued from a reference oscillator, for example, a quartz oscillator having a stable oscillation frequency characteristic. The electronic timepiece tends to be more widely accepted due to high precision of time counting. Most of the electronic timepieces developed to date are of the digital display type admitting of a correct and easy reading of time indication.
The digital display timepiece is fundamentally so arranged as to cause time units such as "hours", "minutes" and "seconds" to be indicated by clock pulses sent forth from a reference oscillator. A digital display device displays under electronic control the number of clock pulses counted by a time-counting section which denotes the respective time units.
The above-mentioned digital display type electronic timepiece, indicates not only the above-mentioned time units but also the calendar months and days and the days of the week easily by counting means with time indication on the digital display section changed over to information on the date.
With the digital display type electronic timepiece which is fundamentally designed to count clock pulses issued and display a counted number of said clock pulses on a digital display section, it is easy to incorporate not only the basic timepiece function of indicating the aforesaid time units and the calendar dates, but also, for example, a stopwatch function and a function of a special counter designed to count, for example, a number of commodities, instead of time. Therefore, it is contemplated to render the electronic timepiece as a multifunction device.
While it is important to allow an electronic timepiece to have many functions as described above, it is absolutely necessary for a timepiece to carry out a time-setting operation in order to correct time indication. Namely, an electronic timepiece should be provided with means for issuing various instructions to select the functions not only for the above-mentioned multifunctions but also for control or correction of actual time indication. Where, however, an electronic timepiece is limited in size to serve as a wrist watch, it is practically difficult to fit the electronic timepiece with a large number of instruction-issuing means such as a push button. Though it is theoretically possible in terms of a circuit arrangement to incorporate many functions in an electronic timepiece, yet considerable difficulties arise in forming an electronic wrist watch into a multifunction type.